Big Rate Increase for FedEx and UPS in 2013

FedEx and UPS recently raised their shipping rates by an overall average of 5.9% for 2013.  But an article written by Ken Wood of LJM Freight Auditing & Consulting that was recently published in Multi-Channel Merchant magazine shows the average rate increase can be much higher for commonly shipped packages.

Ken dissects how the private carriers use the word “average” to their benefit and how the majority of packages (shipments under 30 lbs.) have much higher annual rate increases for 2013.

“For example, a 3 lb. UPS Ground package going to zone 3 increased by 8.94% while a 74 lb. package going to zone 3 increased by 1.69%. Shipments weighing between 1lb. and 10 lbs. increased on average 8% while shipments weighing between 71 lbs. and 150 lbs. increased on average 4.7%. This is why the carriers can continue to quote an average increase of 4.9%. Your actual increase will be closer to 7.5% and that doesn’t include the ever increasing “Surcharges and Accessorial Fees”.

The article also discusses how additional fees for items such as address corrections, residential surcharges, dimensional weight charges and delivery area surcharges (to name a few) have been increasing at a higher percentage than the base rates and 2013 is no different.

Read the entire article at MultiChannelMerchant.com